SamurAI – Phase1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Stewardship of Antimicrobials using Real-Time Artificial Intelligence (SamurAI) - Phase 1: Pre-clinical device development or performance testing
IRAS ID
282591
Contact name
Laura Shallcross
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
The Problem
Antibiotics save lives, but the more they are used, the less effective they become. Infections learn how to resist them. More than 50,000 people in the UK have infections that resist antibiotics, and this number will increase if we do nothing.
In a typical hospital, around 150 patients are taking antibiotics on any one day. Research suggests that 30-50% of individual prescriptions could be avoided if they were reviewed by a specialist in antibiotics looking at things with the danger of overuse in mind. However, there are currently not enough of these specialists - microbiologists and antibiotic pharmacists - to review every antibiotic prescription and provide feedback to every doctor. For last 2 years we have been working with infection specialists, health psychologists and designers to solve this problem.The Solution
We need to use fewer antibiotics. But antibiotics seem so helpful that this has not happened. The use of antibiotics in UK hospitals is still growing. Our plan is to develop and test an antibiotic surveillance system we call SamurAI. It involves computers working in a way that copies human thinking (‘artificial intelligence’) and it takes advantage of the introduction of electronic patient records into UK hospitals. The system will combine historical data for patients prescribed antibiotics with the findings of specialists in infection as they review prescriptions. Under specialist medical supervision, the computer system will ‘learn’ what works best and when to start, stop or change the use of antibiotics. Once up and running the system should be able to identify and flag patients who should be reviewed by specialists and guide antibiotic treatment for individual patients. The research will start at one hospital in London, but our aim is to roll it out to 3 different hospitals within 4 years.
Evaluation and Safeguards
First, we will evaluate whether SamurAI can accurately and safely identify patients who can stop, change or switch antibiotics. We will compare SamurAI’s predictions to what happens when experts review 200 patients taking antibiotics. If SamurAI’s predictions and the experts mainly agree, we will apply for funding to further develop and test SamurAI through carefully designed trials. We expect it can reduce antibiotic use by 10-20%, benefiting patients by reducing their time in hospital and the risk of side-effects from antibiotic treatment. Reduced use will also prolong the lifespan of our existing antibiotics. Once we have tested the system in our three hospitals, we aim to introduce it in new hospitals by 2027.
We will involve patients, the public and healthcare workers at all stages of the project, to understand their concerns about using patient data and agree how to protect it. We will hold a workshop to share research findings with patients.REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/WM/0269
Date of REC Opinion
30 Oct 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion